The Joys of Life
by capm
Summary: Destiny seems to have chosen Sam for a role she does not want to play. Can she be saved by her friends at WOOHP?
1. Chapter 1 The Test

**Chapter 1 – The Test**

The story opens on a remote island in the Pacific. A group of technicians are watching control panels, as an object reaches orbit.

"Pod 20 has reached its orbit, and checks out as operational!", says the head technician.

"Good! Good!! Soon, my plan can be implemented", says a mysterious figure, as he now switches one of the 21 monitors on his panel to an external/internal view of Beverly Hills High. He has broken into the school's security system, and has it under constant surveillance. "Plot the first twenty targets, for each pod!"

"Yes, sir!"

At Beverly Hills High, its time for the annual "Perform Under Pressure" test. All seniors are required to participate, so that they can experience the pressure of a possible career, where they only get one chance to 'get it right', first hand.

"I am so totally not ready for the 'Perform Under Pressure' test!", exclaims Clover.

"I didn't even know how to prepare for it!", says Alex.

"But that's the point, Alex! Your not supposed to study for it! It's just an exercise to test how much you retained over the years of schooling. It doesn't count for a grade!", says Sam confidently.

"That's easy for you to say, Sammy. You're a brain! I'm not!", Alex frets.

"Me neither!", adds Clover.

"Relax, gals! You'll do fine! You're going to find out you retained a lot more than you suspect! Wait and see!", says Sam, as they arrive at the gym. The test will be given there.

"Well, well, if the three 'losers' haven't arrived to watch me place first in this year's 'Perform Under Pressure' test!", chides Mandy.

"You may place higher than Alex or I, Mandy! But don't reach for the first place ribbon yet!", says Clover.

"Yeah, Mandy. Sam's going to clean your clock!", says Alex, as Sam shows embarrassment. Sam is trying to keep this test in perspective, she doesn't need the additional pressure of proving her friends right.

"We'll see!", says Mandy, as she and her two clone friends go to their places.

"I wish you wouldn't have said that, Alex!", says Sam.

"Why not, Sammy? You have more smarts in your little fingernail than Mandy has in her whole body, plus her two Mandy clones!", replies Alex. But the gals can see that Sam is starting to tense up.

"Let's forget about this stupid test for a bit. What are you going to wear to the dance Friday night, Sammy?", asks Clover, as she tries to break the tension.

Sam immediately relaxes. "I was thinking of wearing my flowing pink skirt with my light blue blouse and pink matching shoes, Clover."

"That is a great outfit for you, Sammy!" replies Alex, "You'll look awesome as usual in it!"

"What are you going to wear, gals?" asks Sam.

"I'm thinking of wearing my red hip huggers, with my red tear drop top and red dance boots!", replies Clover.

"That's a good outfit for you too, Clover! You'll knock the boys dead!", exclaims Alex.

"How about you, Alex?", asks Clover.

"I'm trying to decide between my fuchsia dance outfit, or my white skirt and green top! Which would you gals pick?", replies Alex.

"I'd go with the fuchsia dance outfit – you look totally cute in it!", says Clover.

"Both outfits are nice, Alex, but I agree with Clover! You're dynamite in that fuchsia outfit!", says Sam.

"Then the fuchsia outfit it is, with my matching boots!", says Alex with finality. Clover and Alex smile at one another. Mission accomplished! They have been able to get Sam to relax.

Soon the test begins. It is broken into rounds – one wrong answer and the student is out.

The gals are doing very well! It is round 15, before Alex answers wrong. She is sad, but perks up when she realizes she did better than 60% of the class, including Mandy and her two friends. Mandy was fit to be tied, when she went out in round 13, as she bitterly complained about how unfair the question was, but to no avail. Her two friends went out in round 11. She and her two friends go to their seats in the gym, in a snit! Alex becomes a cheerleader for Clover and Sam.

Clover is the next to miss a question, out of the gals. She goes out in round 20. That places her in the top 25 percent of the class. She is pleased with her finish, as she joins Alex in cheering on Sam.

Soon the test is down to Sam and Matt. Both have survived 24 rounds. If they both get the next answer correct, they will share top honors. The final question is from astronomy, and is tricky. "How many of Saturn's, Jupiter's, Neptune's and Uranus' moons can be seen from earth?" Both students know that Saturn has 18 moons, Jupiter 16, Neptune 8 and Uranus 15, but how many are visible from earth? They both think for a few seconds and write down their answers. When their answers are locked in, the correct answer is revealed: 10, 14, 2, and 5. Sam's answers are revealed first: 10, 14, a crossed out 8 followed by a 2, and 5. Correct! Matt's answers are next: 10, a crossed out 16 followed by 14, 2, and a crossed out 5 followed by 6. Matt had the answer correct initially for Uranus, but changed it to the incorrect answer. Sam is the winner!

"Great job, Sam!", congratulates Matt.

"You to, Matt! You had the right answer, initially.", returns Sam.

"Yes, but I changed it. I out-thought myself. I don't mind losing, especially if it's to you Sam!", says Matt. Sam is a little embarrassed by the compliment.

"Will you be at the dance Friday, Matt?", asks Sam.

"Sure will!", says Matt.

"I get the first dance with you!", Sam says.

"I'll be looking forward to it, Sam! Thanks!", says a happy Matt, as he goes to his seat in the audience.

Sam goes to the podium, where she is presented the first place ribbon for winning this year's competition. The gym erupts in applause, as Sam embarrassingly stands on the stage with her ribbon. She enjoys winning, but she can do without the notoriety, thank you!


	2. Chapter 2 The Plot

**Chapter 2 – The Plot**

All of this hasn't gone unnoticed on the Pacific island. "This confirms what I have already known! Beautiful, and with brains! She will make an outstanding Queen! Set in motion Project Conviction!"

"Yes, sir!"

All the seniors are given the rest of the day off, after the competition, and the gals naturally plan to hit the Mall.

"You were great, Sammy!", says Alex as she give her a quick hug, on their way to Sam's car.

"Totally!", adds Clover, as she gives Sam a quick hug also.

"Thanks, guys! It's great having friends like you to hang with!", says a happy Sam.

The gals enter Sam's car, buckle their seat belts, and are ready to go. But as Sam starts the car, a white gas engulfs the three gals. All the gals start coughing.

"If (cough) this is another (cough, cough) WOOHPing....", says Clover, but she doesn't finish. She is unconscious, as are Sam and Alex.

Quickly four men pull up next to the car. They quickly grab the three gals, making painfully sure that their backpacks and purses are left in the car, out of sight.

The gals wake up separated from one another. Clover is in a small oval room, with a metal floor. The walls are smooth as glass. There are no windows and only one door. She tries the door, and also tries to force it open with her shoulder, but she quickly realizes that the effort is futile. As she does, her WOOHP hair barrette falls to the floor unnoticed. She hasn't noticed the camera in the ceiling corner.

Alex also wakes up in a small oval room, with a metal floor. Like Clover's prison, it has smooth walls, no windows and an impregnable door. She lost her WOOHP hairpin when she tried crashing through the door. She also hasn't noticed the camera in the ceiling corner.

Sam wakes up sitting in a chair. She can see Clover and Alex on the monitors, as well as a cow on a third monitor. The cow is in a room identical to Alex and Clover's.

Sam is not restrained in any fashion, but she can also see that there are no controls by the monitors.

"Clover! Alex! Can you hear me?", says Sam. But she sees no reaction on the monitors. She does get a reaction in her room, however.

"Ah, my Queen has awakened from her beauty sleep! Welcome to your castle!", says the mysterious figure standing in the shadows.

"Queen? AS IF! I'm leaving, and I'm taking my friends with me!", says Sam as gets up from her chair.

"Wait! Unless, you want your friends to die right now!"


	3. Chapter 3 The Agreement

**Chapter 3 – The Agreement**

Sam stops in her tracks. What does this wacko want?

"Good!", says the figure as he steps into the light. "My name is Pierce, and you, my beauty will be me Queen after I take over the world! First, watch the monitor with the cow!"

Sam watches as the metal floor quickly disappears into the wall, dropping the cow into the water. She can see the water foam with activity for about one minute. When it stops, she sees the cow's bones float to the surface, clean of any meat, muscle, or tendon. She swallows hard.

"As you can see, my beloved, the floor in those rooms can be removed, plunging the occupants into the water below. The piranhas make short work of anything edible that hits the water, including people, like your two friends."

"Why you....", says Sam angrily.

"You will also notice," Pierce continues, "that the walls are smooth as glass, and the door doesn't have a handle on that side – there is nothing to hold on to. There are no windows. The only safe way out is if I release them through the door. Of course," he continues as he flips the switch, pulling the floor through the wall, "they can also get out through the water!"

"STOP IT! STOP THE FLOOR!", Sam says desperately.

"It will take 15 minutes for the floor to disappear at the current speed."

"Please! PLEASE!! STOP IT!", pleads Sam.

"That will all depend on you, my dear. I agree to stop the floor, and set your friends free, if, you agree to (a) remain here and be my loyal Queen; (b) never oppose me, or do harm to me and (c) never provide information to anyone who would oppose me or do me harm. Well, my dear, what is your answer?"

Sa m desperately looks at the monitors. The floor is 50% withdrawn. Five more minutes and both of her friends will be in the water. She has no choice.

"I agree, Pierce!", Sam says, almost inaudibly with her head hung down.

"Excellent!", proclaims Pierce as he stops the floor and puts them into reverse.

Sam watches as the floor totally covers the water in each cell. But she notices that Alex and Clover are still prisoners.

"Pierce! You said you'd set my friends free, if I agreed to your proposition!"

"And I shall, my dear. But first we must reduce the agreement to writing, for you to sign, and for your signature to be witnessed."

Sam shoots a look of betrayal at Pierce. He shrugs, "Oral agreements are not binding. Only written ones can be enforced. After you sign the written agreement, I will set your friends free."

"You had better, Pierce, or the agreement is off!!", states Sam defiantly.

"That's what I have always liked about you, Sam! You are a woman of principle!"

"What do you mean 'always liked about you'? I never saw you before in my life!"

"Aren't you curious as to how you got chosen as my queen?"

Now that he mentioned it, she was curious. What did he know about her? And about Alex and Clover?

Pierce explains, "While I was developing my plan for world domination, I chanced to see you and your two friends in action against a certain Dr. Gelee! I was immediately impressed by your long hair and radiant beauty. I was even more impressed with your intelligence and honor. I vowed to find out all I could about you and your friends. So I hired a detective agency. I also have access to the Beverly Hills High surveillance system.

"I know for example, where each of you live," and Pierce shows a picture of the three girls' homes. "I also know all your parents (picture of parents flashes on monitor) and where they work (workplace). I know you all go to Beverly Hills High School. I know that you just recently won the 'Perform under Pressure' test, and that you rank as a Master in chess. You have the highest GPA in the senior class, and may have very well set the record at the school. You and your friends work for WOOHP, although I do not know much about the organization.

"I know where each of you has their bedroom at home; what car you drive; where you like to shop; and where you like to hang out.

"So you can see, my sweet, I know a great deal about you all. You should also know that if at any time you violate the written agreement, I will use one of my pods to destroy your two friends first, followed by your parents!"

Sam lowers her head in submission, and starts to cry silently.

"As you can see, my dear, resistance is not only futile, it could be life threatening for your friends and family", says Pierce quietly, as he lifts Sam's face up by her chin, and kisses her lips.


	4. Chapter 4 The Coronation

**Chapter 4 – The Coronation**

Clover and Alex have been unable to get out of their cells. They don't even know if any of the other two gals are alive! Any escape attempt has been futile. They both sit on the floor in a personal huddle, and cry silently, thinking of their lost friends, and maybe their lost families too.

All of the sudden, Clover hears the door unlock to her cell. She gets ready to nail the person with a flying kick, when the floor starts rumbling. She quickly checks the floor, only to find that the rumble was a ruse to distract her long enough to let three goons enter her cell. The one behind her handcuffs her hands behind her back. "Let me GO, you jerk!"

"The Queen wishes to see you.", one of the goons says.

"Well, I don't want to see her! I want to know what's going on, and I want out!"

The goons unceremoniously pull Clover to her audience with the Queen.

Alex also hears her door unlocking. She plans to attack as soon as she sees an opening. But the goons employ the same ruse as they did with Clover, getting the same result.

"The Queen requests your presence!"

"Tell her the request is denied, you jerk!"

But the goons unceremoniously pull Alex to her meeting with the Queen as well.

The goons bring both Clover and Alex into a large meeting room. They uncuff them and leave.

"CLOVER!", exclaims Alex as she rushes to hug her friend.

"ALEX!" exclaims Clover as she does the same.

"You're all right! You're all right!!", says Alex through her happy tears.

"You too!", says Clover through hers.

"I wonder where Sam is?"

"I'm right here.", says Sam from the other side of the room.

"SAMMY!" exclaim both Clover and Alex as they run toward Sam, but they run right into a glass wall!

"Sam, what's going on?", asks a confused Clover.

"Let me tell you," says Pierce from Clover's and Alex's left.

"Who are you?", asks Alex.

"I am Pierce, the future King to Sam."

"Right, Pierce!", says Alex contemptuously.

"As if!", says Clover, also showing contempt.

"Why not ask Queen Samantha?" says Pierce.

"QUEEN SAMANTHA?!?", exclaim Clover and Alex together.

"Yes girls. It's true! I have agreed to become Pierce's queen.", says Sam quietly.

"You're the queen we've been brought here to see?" asks a startled Clover.

Alex and Clover are studying Sam's face. She appears lifeless. He skin is pale, her face drawn in sadness, and her eyes that once flashed with the joys of life, are empty.

"What did he do to you, Sammy?", asks Alex quietly.

"What has transpired between Queen Samantha and myself is none of your concern. You have been brought here for one purpose – to witness the signing of the agreement between Queen Samantha and myself. On affixing your signatures to the document as witnesses, my notary will affix his seal, making the agreement binding. You will then be returned to Beverly Hills.", says Pierce.

"And if we refuse?", asks Clover.

"You will be returned to your cells until you change your minds. Maybe a swim with the piranha under the steel floors will be more convincing!"

"Please, girls! Sign the agreement as witnesses! Please do it for me!", intercedes Sam.

"But, Sammy....", protests Alex.

"Your not serious....", protests Clover.

"Yes, I am.," say Sam quietly, as she walks over to the table and picks up the pen.

"Don't do it, Sammy!", says Alex.

But Sam proceeds to sign the document. "Both of you have witnessed that I have signed this document, through my own choice. Please witness it and you can go home!", pleads Sam.

The glass wall is lifted and Clover is the first to walk over to the table. She cannot read any of the agreement, as those parts are on previous pages from the signature page. Clover casts a sad look at Sam, picks up the pen and signs her name.

Sam gives Clover a tearful hug and says, "Thank you!"

Alex follows. She knows something is wrong, but she doesn't know what. She decides to sign the document as well. She also shoots a tearful glance at Sam as she signs.

Sam gives Alex a tearful hug also, and says quietly, "Thank you! Thank you both!! Goodbye forever, my best friends!"

Clover and Alex are then ushered out of the room by the goons. They are able to see one last glimpse of Sam, as she forlornly waves goodbye.


	5. Chapter 5 Regina and Morgan

**Chapter 5 – Regina and Morgan**

Pierce is as good as his word. Clover and Alex are put to sleep, and when they awaken, they are in Sam's car in the school parking lot. But as they start moving, a holographic picture of Pierce appears in their midst.

"You two are now home, as agreed. If you try to find out where Sam is, or try to take her away from me, I will feed Sam to the piranha, and you will bear the responsibility. Same goes if you get WOOHP to help.", and the hologram disappears.

"What can we do, Clover?", asks a sad Alex.

"Nothing! Unless we want Sam to be piranha food!", says a dejected Clover.

Just then, the gals get WOOHP'd.

"Hello, ladies! Where is Sam?", asks Jerry.

"We...we can't tell you Jerry!", says Alex.

"Not without putting Sam's life in danger!", says Clover.

Jerry quickly runs a scan on the girls to see if a listening device has been hidden on them. The results are negative. He knows that any prodding by him will be rebuffed, as he can tell both Clover and Alex are afraid of something, and it has to do with Sam.

"We'll do the best we can on the mission, Jerry!", says Clover.

Jerry has other ideas. He quickly assigns the mission to another group, and addresses the two frightened gals.

"No mission, ladies! I wanted to show you our new medical decontamination bubble! It would have come in handy when you gals we infected with that bacterium at the beach! Come, let me show you."

The gals don't move. "Jerry, we really have to get out of here!", says Alex frighteningly. "We're putting Sam's life in danger!"

"Now Alex, relax! No one can see inside of the WOOHP building, and no one can hear what is said here! Who ever is threatening Sam can't know if you are here or what you say!", says Jerry comfortingly.

Clover says "But Jerry! He knows we work for WOOHP! He may assume!"

"Well Clover, if he knows you work for WOOHP, he has to know that you will be assigned to a mission sooner or later. If just getting brought to WOOHP was going to trigger him hurting Sam, he planned to hurt her all along!"

Jerry continues comfortingly, "Now why don't you tell me how we can help Sam, before it really is too late. If you are concerned about listening devices, I have already checked you, and none are concealed."

Alex and Clover look at one another apprehensively, but they realize Jerry was right. Sooner or later they would get WOOHP'd, and if that was the trigger for Pierce to hurt Sam, he already did it! But he said only if WOOHP tried to save her would he hurt Sam. Maybe there was still hope.

Clover begins, "Well, Jerry, we had just finished the 'Perform under Pressure' test at school, and had been given the rest of the day off. Sam, Alex, and I decided to hit the Mall with the free time. We got into Sam's car, buckled up and were ready to go, when we were overcome by sleeping gas!"

Alex picks up the story, "Clover and I found ourselves in individual impregnable cells, with moving floors. We couldn't break the door down, and there were no other possible exits, except through the piranha infested water below the floor."

Clover continues, "All of the sudden, the floor started to disappear into the wall! We kept moving back toward the back wall, to keep from falling in the water. The floor was about 75% gone when all of the sudden it stopped, and reversed."

"Where was Sam?" asks Jerry.

"We didn't know! For that matter, I didn't know where Clover was, and she didn't know where I was, either!"

Clover adds, "In about an hour or two hours, I heard my cell door being unlocked. I planned to hit the jailer with a flying kick, but they duped me! They started the floor moving, and I quickly looked down. That was all the time it took for three thugs to enter into the room. One got behind me and handcuffed me! They then dragged me to meet the 'Queen'!"

"Queen?", asks Jerry.

"The same thing happened to me, Jerry. Both Clover, and I were brought to a room, and uncuffed. We were overjoyed to see one another, and wondered aloud where Sam was. Then we heard her say 'I'm right here'. We both ran toward her in joy, but were stopped by a glass wall."

"That's when Pierce showed up," continues Clover.

"Whose Pierce?" asks Jerry.

"He's the bad guy!", says Alex.

Clover continues, "Pierce tells us that the reason we were brought there was to sign as witnesses to a written agreement between 'Queen' Samantha and him. We protested, but Sam walked up to the document and signed it. She pleaded with us to sign it also, as witnesses. We did. Sam bid us a tearful goodbye...." And Clover breaks down crying, as does Alex.

"There there, girls!", says Jerry comfortingly as he hugs both of them on the landing cushion, "Let it out! We can continue later!"

In a few minutes, Alex has composed herself, "I can continue now Jerry!", she says quietly.

"Are you sure, Alex? I can wait!"

"But maybe Sammy can't!"

Jerry releases Alex from his hug and she continues, with Clover trying to compose herself. Jerry still has a comforting arm around Clover. He has a steadying hand on Alex's shoulder.

"The next thing we knew, we were put to sleep. We woke up in Sam's car at school. As we started moving around, a holographic message appeared in our midst."

"What was the source?" asks Jerry.

"It appeared to be coming from my necklace. Pierce told us if we ever tried to rescue Sammy, or if WOOHP did, he would feed her to the piranhas!"

Clover has composed herself to where she can add "That's why we were so frightened when you WOOHP'd us, Jerry! We thought Pierce would kill Sam!"

"I understand Clover. But this Pierce doesn't know me, I'm sure. If I could get to his hideout, we may be able to save Sam."

"But we want to help, too!", says Alex.

"Alex, if he sees you or Clover anywhere near his hideout, he will kill Sam! You said so yourself! I think we ought to let Regina, and Morgan handle this!", says Jerry.

"Regina? Morgan? Who are they?", asks Clover.

"Two of our newest spies! Come, I'll introduce you!", and the three go off.


	6. Chapter 6 Pierce Attacks!

**Chapter 6 – Pierce Attacks!**

Back on the island, Pierce is readying his first strike.

"Are all 20 targets locked?" he asks.

"Yes, sir."

"Then, FIRE!!"

Sam watches the twenty monitors in horror with Pierce as 20 laser beams descend from orbit, hitting military bases, ports, and strategic energy sources. Pierce is ecstatic!

"EXCELLENT! Now, ready the next targets! It is time for me to make my demands known!"

As he gets up to leave, Piece kisses Sam on the lips. She shows no emotion. In anger, Pierce says to her "Seeing your going to be spending the rest of your life with me, you might as well grow to enjoy it!", he snaps.

"I agreed to be your Queen, and not oppose you, stop you, or help anyone else oppose or stop you. I did not agree to give you my heart, Pierce! That, you'll never get!"

"We'll discuss this further, after my broadcast!" Pierce says angrily, as he disgustingly pushes Sam's chin aside with his finger.

Pierce leaves his throne room and heads to his communication center. Unbeknownst to him, Sam follows, making very sure that she remains out of sight.

Pierce walk over to a throne in front of three cameras. At his signal, a switch is thrown that hijacks all television and radio signals worldwide. He begins his broadcast.

"People of the world!" he begins. His speech is automatically translated electronically into every language of the earth that has radio or television capabilities – the proper language to the proper country.

"You have just witnessed my power! I have attacked, in the span of one minute 20 targets, completely destroying them! My pods have been pre-programmed to strike 20 more targets tomorrow, unless you surrender to me and recognize me as king!

"I will monitor your official government transmissions over the next 24 hours for your response!

"Let me add, should anyone try to destroy my pods in that time, I will train them on the offenders and wipe out their capitols and major military installations! You have been warned!!"

With that, Pierce ends his broadcast. Sam quickly returns to the throne room, and takes her seat, acting like nothing has happened.

Pierce talks to the technicians.

"Did we transmit to everyone?"

"Yes, sir! All countries received the ultimatum!"

"Good! Good!! Now we wait!"

Pierce goes back to the throne room. He has to find some way to break Sam's will, so she will surrender her heart to him too. She's not much of a queen, if he can't capture her heart! She is cold, like a marble statue.

Maybe that's it! He has to prove to Sam how much he loves her! He'll commission a painting of her by a renowned artist! That should melt her icy heart. Or something!

The leaders of the world were caught off-guard by Pierce's attack. But the two biggest superpowers, Russia and the USA were able to pinpoint where his pods are located. They were also able to pinpoint the location of the transmitter for the highjacking of the airwaves. What they don't know is that Pierce is no fool. His transmitter is located on an island in the ATLANTIC ocean. Should they attack it, they would expose themselves to his fury. And he still retained transmitting capabilities from his home island.

WOOHP was also able to pinpoint the transmitter and the location of the pods. A plan is formulated.


	7. Chapter 7 The Way to a Woman's Heart

**Chapter 7 – The Way to a Woman's Heart**

The next day, while Pierce is awaiting word from the countries on their surrender, his security system notices a small trading vessel approaching his port. The man is an independent trader, who island hops, bartering for goods.

"Get ready to sink the vessel!", says the head of security. And three large guns swing out and take aim at the small ship. Pierce studies the ship, when all of the sudden he says, "Hold your fire! Allow the trader to dock, and bring his goods to the castle!"

Pierce feels he may finally have a way to worm his way into Sam's heart! He knows she LOVES to shop. Maybe by buying some things from this trader, her heart will melt toward him! It's worth a shot!

The trader disembarks, and is greeted by the head of security. "What wares do you have to trade?"

"Oh, I have pots, pans, artwork, dresses, shoes, suits ..."

"Dresses?" What kind of dresses?"

"The latest style from the USA. They are very popular in Hollywood! Would you like to see them?"

The head of security contacts Pierce with this information. Pierce orders him to bring the trader with all of his women's clothing, shoes and accoutrements to the castle at once!"

On being told what the castle is interested in, the trader says, "Their in luck! I just came from the USA! They will have the pick of the entire collection! I have three steamer trunks chock full of these items! Will you help me load them on your trucks?"

The head of security hesitantly agrees. The three steamer trunks are loaded on the trucks provided, and are on their way to the castle, with the trader.

Arriving at the castle, the trader is greeted by Pierce, "Welcome to my home! I would like to see what you have, before I bring you into the castle!"

"Certainly! Certainly!", says the trader expectantly. He flings open all three steamer trunks. "These are the latest styles and colors! I'm sure there are many things here that can catch a lady's eye!"

Pierce quickly looks over the clothing. Would Sam look super hot in some of these outfits! "Bring them in! Let me surprise my Queen!"

Quickly the trader and his trunks are ushered into the throne room. Pierce says, "Look my dear, a choice of new outfits for you!"

Sam gets up from her throne and heads for the steamer trunks. It's almost like home. The very thought brings a tear to her eyes. She figures there is no harm in looking! It would be the first enjoyable thing she's been able to do on this island!

Pierce smiles. He sees some spark in Sam's eyes for the first time since he brought her here.


	8. Chapter 8 Reprisal

**Chapter 8 – Reprisal**

All of the sudden, a technician comes running into the throne room.

"Pierce! Pierce!!"

"Your highness to you!", says Pierce indignantly. "This had better be important, or I'll feed you to the piranha!"

"Your highness, our communication island in the Atlantic is under attack!"

"The FOOLS! Very well!" , and Pierce leaves the throne room, signaling for the trader to be ushered out of the castle until he returns. Sam's heart saddens. She knew it was too good to be true! She didn't even have a chance to look at the outfits! She sadly returns to her throne.

Pierce goes immediately to the control room. He can see his transmission island in the Atlantic under missile attack!

"Have you identified the attacker?" asks Pierce.

"It appears to be a joint operation between Russia and the USA! We detected the distinct fuel signatures of both, from the incoming missiles."

"Very well! Aim pods 1-10 at the USA targets and 11-20 at Russia's!"

"Sir, we're losing contact with the pods!"

"WHAT? How is that possible? Pod contact is located here."

"Sir, someone has lasered all the wires in the control panels!"

"It's not loss of contact sir, it's the loss of the pods, now! There are two space-based lasers taking out our pods right now, as we speak! One appears to be American and one Russian!"

"FIRE ALL PODS! FIRE ALL PODS!! We can still cause some destruction!!"

"Sir...All pods have been destroyed!"

"NO! That's impossible!" and Pierce frantically races to the control panel room. He sees two gals lasering the circuit boards.

"Let's split, Morgan!" says one to the other.

"OK, Regina!" and they run off.

"Security! INTRUDERS!" screams Pierce into his communicator. Security will find those two girls. They must be WOOHP agents! I told Alex and Clover what I'd do to Sam if WOOHP tried to stop me!

But as he approaches the throne room, he sees Sam forlornly sitting on her throne. Pierce just can't bring himself to drop her throne into the piranha-infested water below her throne!!

As he ponders what to do, the trader appears, with the two girls.

"What are you doing here? Get out until you are summoned!"

"I don't need a summons, Pierce! You're under arrest!"

"Who are you?"

"This is Regina, and this is Morgan. My name is Jerry!", and Jerry pulls off his mask.

"JERRY!", says Sam with exuberance.

"You won't get me, Jerry! And you'll not get Sam!", says Pierce as he hits three buttons on his control! One button sends Sam's throne backwards through the wall, the second drops the bulletproof glass shield to separate Jerry and the girls from Pierce and Sam, and the third opens a hole in the floor for Pierce to escape.


	9. Chapter 9 The Endgame

**Chapter 9 – The Endgame**

Quickly, Jerry deploys a sound gun, which reaches a high enough pitch to shatter the glass, within 10 seconds. Morgan and Regina activate their jet go-go boots and fly down Pierce's escape hatch.

As they get to the bottom, they see that the path goes both ways.

"You go that way, Regina, I'll go this one!"

"OK!"

Morgan flies to the end of her path, just in time to see Pierce load Sam, still captive in her throne, into a jet, and close the hatch. Within seconds, he takes off.

"Regina! Come to my location! Pierce has Samantha and is leaving in a jet!"

"On my way!"

"I'll summon our WOOHP jet. It should get here about the same time you do!"

Regina and the WOOHP jet arrive simultaneously. The girls board and set out on Pierce's tale.

Meanwhile, on Pierce's jet, Pierce is talking to Sam.

"So, your friends don't take warnings! I told that Clover and Alex I would drop you into piranha-infested waters if they tried to save you! Listen!" , and Pierce plays the hologram message.

"But they didn't! I never saw those girls before in my life! You know yourself that they were not Alex and Clover!"

Pierce softens his speech "Yes, I know. I couldn't bring myself to do it even if they were, Sam. I love you!", and he kisses her lips.

Sam responds softly, "If you really love me, let me go. I have kept up my part of the bargain. I remained with you as your Queen, I didn't oppose you, I didn't try to stop you, or try to harm you! I provided no information to anyone who would try to stop or harm you! I have fulfilled my end of the contract."

Just as Sam finishes, a hole is lasered into the top of Pierce's plane. Regina and Morgan drop in.

"Give it up, Pierce! Your plans have been foiled and it's time to face the music!", says Morgan.

"It's time you let go of 'Queen Samantha' too!", adds Regina.

Pierce looks at the two spies, then back at Sam. He silently releases Sam from her restraints. He leans over to give her one last hug and kiss... "Something to remember for the rest of our lives!"

...When Sam's throne drops through the floor with Pierce locked in an embrace of Sam! They are plummeting to their deaths!

Quickly, Regina and Morgan, activate their jet go-go boots, only to find that they have run out of fuel! They now have a bigger worry! The plane is nose-diving toward earth!

Regina and Morgan pull up hard on the controls to try to bring the plane to a stop. Suddenly, they aren't falling anymore! As they look out the window, they see that WOOHP has deployed a safety net to catch the plane! They are saved.

Jerry in his jet and the WOOHP jet/copters with the safety net were following Regina and Morgan. He watched them board Pierce's jet, and he then sent their jet in a holding pattern with his.

After about 5 minutes he saw something drop out of the bottom of the jet. When he magnified it, he saw it was Sam and Pierce!

Jerry quickly moved his plane to an intercept course! This was going to be tricky at such high speed. One tenth of a second slow, and they would bounce off the back of his jet, dead from the impact. The same goes for one tenth of a second fast.

Jerry opens the hatch in his plane. Three seconds to intercept! The super cushions were deployed to prevent injuries. INTERCEPT! Jerry puts his plane on autopilot and runs back to the super cushions.


	10. Chapter 10 Aftermath

**Chapter 10 – Aftermath**

Pierce and Sam aren't moving! Jerry quickly checks the pulse of both of them! He is relieved to know that they just blacked out from their fall, and sudden stop. He quickly handcuffs Pierce, and tends to Sam.

"Sam? Sam? Are you all right?", Jerry asks with concern.

"Jerry?....", says Sam. She then breaks into tears as she hugs Jerry around the neck, "JERRY!"

"It's all over, Sam!", say Jerry as he hugs Sam consolingly. "Everything is going to be all right! You're safe now, and going home!"

Pierce awakens to see Sam crying in Jerry's arms. "I wish she would have felt one tenth of that emotion towards me! I wanted to make her Queen of the world!", he says quietly.

Jerry responds, "Pierce, you can't buy or intimidate the love, affection and caring of a woman's heart! She has to be willing to give it to you unconditionally! It can never be forced!"

The WOOHP copters and jets arrive at WOOHP. Pierce is taken into custody, and Sam walks off Jerry's jet with him.

As soon as Regina and Morgan see Sam they run to embrace her.

"Sammy!", says Regina as she gives her a tearful hug.

"You're all right!", says Morgan as she gives Sam a tearful hug as well.

Sam politely returns the hugs, "Thanks girls! You were great! But you have to introduce yourselves! I've never seen you before!"

Regina and Morgan look stunned. Then they start laughing. Regina pulls off her mask – it's Alex! Morgan does the same, and it's Clover.

"Never seen us before? How do you like that?", says Clover in fake anger.

"ALEX! CLOVER!!", cries Sam as she tackles both of her friends via neck hug.

"It's YOU! It's really YOU!!!" says Sam as she keeps hugging her friends through her happy tears.

Clover and Alex are laughing and crying as they hug their friend. "Yes, it's us!" says Clover through her tears.

"We're like the proverbial bad penny, Sam. You can't get rid of us!", says Alex through her tears.

"Why would I ever want to?", says Sam through hers.

In Jerry's office, everything is explained. The girls are on their landing cushion, one arm around each other.

Jerry begins, "You see, Sam, I knew something was wrong when I WOOHP'd the gals, and you weren't there. Pierce had done an excellent job of intimidating the girls into believing that if they tried to help you in any way, he would kill you.

"I noticed Clover had one WOOHP hair barrette in her hair and Alex had one WOOHP hairpin in hers. I found that odd, as they both normally wore two. After they told me about how they tried to break out of their cells, I reasoned that the missing barrette and pin were probably in the cells. It would be easy to activate the WOOHP tracker and pinpoint their location."

Clover continues, "We wanted to help get you back, but Jerry told us we'd have to turn the case over to 'Regina and Morgan'. When he went to introduce us to them, we found out that they were masks WE could wear. We would be Regina and Morgan! That way Pierce couldn't use us as a reason for dumping you in the piranha tank."

Alex takes over, "So the next problem was how to get on the island. Jerry came up with the trader idea, and hid us in one of the steamer trunks! While he was showing the wares to Pierce, 'Morgan' and I got out and started snooping."

Jerry continues, "We got an unexpected assist when Russia and the USA started hammering Pierce's transmission island and taking out his pods with their space-based lasers."

Clover takes over, "So 'Regina' and I sneaked into the control panel room and started lasering everything in sight. That's when Pierce returned to the throne room, and we confronted him. After he sent you through the wall, he went through the floor, delaying us with that glass wall of his. Jerry destroyed it with his sound gun."

Alex says, "We trailed Pierce to his plane, but we were too slow to stop it from taking off. Luckily, Jerry had secured our copter/jet on the trading boat, and the WOOHP ones, with his jet on a nearby island. We got in our copter/jet and followed you. When we got close enough, we used our jet go-go boots to cross over to his plane and cut the opening. You know the rest."

"As for that agreement you signed, and Alex and Clover witnessed, it was completely null, void and unenforceable!", says Jerry.

"But how is that possible?", asks Sam.

"Any agreement, oral or written, that is agreed to under duress is unenforceable. Duress means an action like putting a gun to your head."

"Or threatening the lives of my friends?"

"Exactly!"

"I know I owe my life to you all, and I especially owe Jerry one!", says Sam as she gets up and kisses Jerry on the cheek. Jerry blushes momentarily. "That was one great catch!"

Jerry tries to slough it off, "Merely routine. The computer did the calculation, all I had to do was be there at the right time." But the gals know better, and they smile at Jerry with one of those 'yeah, sure' smiles. Jerry blushes again. They saw through his little white lie.


	11. Chapter 11 Back to Normal

**Chapter 11 – Back to Normal**

The gals are now on their way to the school dance. Alex in her fuchsia dance outfit and matching boots; Clover in her red hip huggers, red tear drop top and red dance boots; and Sam in her flowing pink skirt, light blue blouse, and pink matching shoes.

The gals are in the gym when Sam sees Matt. Matt quickly walks over.

"Hi, Sam! Hi Clover, Alex! Sam, you look awesome!"

"Thanks Matt!"

"Told you so," says Alex.

"If you will, Sam, I would like to take you up on that offer of the first dance tonight!", says Matt.

"Totally!", says Sam

As Sam and Matt make their way to the dance floor, Sam says, in a fake stern tone, "This had better not be the last dance I get with you tonight, Matt!"

Matt laughs, "If you can stand it, I'd gladly dance every dance with you, Sam!"

Sam gives Matt a quick kiss on the cheek, as she laughs, her eyes flashing again with the joys of life, "I can stand it!"

Matt is dancing on air!


End file.
